These Terms of Business set out the general terms on which The Kindlon Insurance Group will provide business services to you as a client of the firm. They also contain details of the respective duties and responsibilities of both the firm and you in relation to such services. Please ensure that you read these terms thoroughly and if you have any queries we will be happy to clarify them. If any material changes are made to these terms we will notify you.

Authorised Status

Kindlon Insurances Ltd C1253 is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an Insurance Intermediary registered under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018; as an Investment Intermediary authorised under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995. Copies of our various authorisations are available on request. The Central Bank of Ireland holds registers of regulated firms. You may contact the Central Bank of Ireland on 1890 777 777 or alternatively visit their website at www.centralbank.ie to verify our credentials.

Statutory Codes

Kindlon Insurances Ltd is subject to the Consumer Protection Code, Minimum Competency code and the
Fitness and Probity Standards which offer protection to consumers. These Codes can be found on the Central Bank’s website www.centralbank.ie

Our Services

Kindlon Insurances is a member of Brokers Ireland. Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to life & pensions/general insurance/and insurance-based investment products. A full list of insurers and product producers with which we deal is available on request.

Insurance Intermediary Services

We act as a Broker and the the principal regulated activities of the firm are provided on the basis of a fair and personal analysis of the market. For certain products, we offer advice on a limited analysis basis and these are outlined below.

Fair and Personal Analysis

The concept of fair and personal analysis describes the extent of the choice of products and providers offered by an intermediary within a particular category of life assurance and general insurance. The number of contracts and providers considered must be sufficiently large to enable an intermediary to recommend a product that would be adequate to meet a client’s needs.
The number of providers that constitutes ‘sufficiently large’ will vary depending on the number of providers operating in the market for a particular product or service and their relative importance in and share of that market. The extent of fair analysis must be such that could reasonably be expected of a professional conducting business, taking into account the accessibility of information and product placement to intermediaries and the cost of the search.
In order to ensure that the number of contracts and providers is sufficiently large to constitute a fair and personal analysis of the market, we will consider the following criteria:

the needs of the customer,

the size of the customer order,

the number of providers in the market that deal with brokers,

the market share of each of those providers,

the number of relevant products available from each provider,

the availability of information about the products,

the quality of the product and service provided by the provider,

cost, and

any other relevant consideration.

Investment Intermediary Services

We are remunerated by commission for our investment intermediary services.

Insurance based Investment Products

We are remunerated by commission for the advice we provide on our insurance-based investment products

Life & Pensions/Deposits & Life Wrapped Investments

We provide life assurance and pensions on a fair and personal analysis basis i.e. providing services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available in the market to enable us to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, regarding which contract would be adequate to meet your needs.

We provide Protection Policy advice on a limited analysis basis, i.e. providing services on the basis of a limited number of contracts within the market. We provide advice on the following product providers:

One Plan through Irish Life.

We will provide assistance to you for any queries you may have in relation to the policies or in the event of a claim during the life of the policy and we will explain to you the various restrictions, conditions and exclusions attached to your policy. However, it is your responsibility to read the policy documents, literature and brochures to ensure that you understand the nature of the policy cover; particularly in relation to PHI and serious illness policies.

Specifically on the subject of permanent health insurance policies we will explain to you; a) the meaning of disability as defined in the policy; b) the benefits available under the policy; c) the general exclusions that apply to the policy; and d) the reductions applied to the benefit where there are disability payments from other sources.

For a serious illness policy, we will explain clearly to you the restrictions, conditions and general exclusions that attach to that policy.

Non-Life

We can provide advice on and arrange products from the following range: personal lines, including household, motor, travel, and general commercial insurance.

We provide general insurance on a fair and personal analysis basis (providing services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available in the market to enable the firm to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, regarding which contract would be adequate to meet your needs).

We provide non-life insurance advice on a limited analysis basis, i.e. providing services on the basis of a limited number of contracts within the market for following products.

In some cases, we may be granted authority from an insurance undertaking to conduct tasks on their behalf, for which we will be remunerated. Where we place your business with this insurance undertaking under this authority you will be notified in advance of the placement.

We will also offer assistance to you in relation to processing claims on policies taken out with us and in seeking renewals terms on your cover.

To ensure continuity of cover, where you have an existing policy which is due to expire and where we have been unable to contact you, we may put continuing cover in force whilst awaiting your instruction. You will be liable for any premiums payable to the relevant insurer for the period of time between renewal and when we receive your instruction. You have the right not to avail of this service.

Statement of Charges

We may earn our remuneration on the basis of fee, commission and any other type of remuneration, including an economic benefit of any kind offered or given with the insurance contract.

Where we receive recurring commission, this forms part of the remuneration for initial advice provided.

In certain circumstances, it will be necessary to charge a fee for services provided. These are listed below. In other circumstances where fees are chargeable we will notify you in writing in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged if different from fees outlined below. Where it is not possible to provide the exact amount, we will provide you the method of calculation of the fee.

Brokerage Fees will be non-refundable in the event of policy cancellation.

General Insurance Scale of Fees

New Business and Renewals for Private and Commercial Motor Insurance: Up to €50

New Business and Renewals for Household Insurance: Up to €50

New Business and Renewals for Travel and Car Hire Excess Insurance: Up to €20 Mid

Term Adjustments for the above: Up to €15

We reserve the right to amend these fees should the complexity of the product require a higher fee. We will confirm and agree this fee with you prior to any increased charge being applied.

Service fees in respect of commercial lines and general insurance may vary depending on a number of variables, the complexity of the case, time expended, risk urgency, seniority of staff involved and amount of commission receivable. The fee chargeable will be based on these variables and will be shown on your invoice.

Earnings disclosure in respect of Life Insurance, Pensions and Investments will appear in a product information document Summary details of these payments will be included in a product information document, under the Customer Information Notice section, which you are legally entitled to receive before an application for a product is completed. These payments are included in the charges of your product. Any ongoing commission shown in the Customer Information Notice will be paid to Kindlon Insurances as long as we continue to be your Financial Adviser. The full details of the commission Kindlon Insurances receives for Life Assurance products (excluding Company Pension products) will be included in your Welcome Pack which is issued to you. Details of company pension and bank products’ commission are available upon request. If we act for you on a non-commission basis, we will charge a fee to be agreed with you in advance. The fee will depend upon the complexity of the case, or to reflect value, specialist skills or urgency. If we do this we will provide you with a written estimate of this in advance of providing any business service.

In the event that fees or charges are payable to a third party in connection with arranging or renewing cover, these charges will be disclosed and will be payable by you.

Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills or urgency. We will notify you in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged.

Where an override commission is received, this will be disclosed to you in general terms.

Ongoing Suitability

Investments
Ongoing suitability assessments form part of the service to clients. On an annual basis the firm will issue a client report outlining changes in the services or instruments involved and/or the circumstances of the client.

Insurance Based Investment Products

We will provide periodic assessments of the suitability of the insurance-based investment product which we have recommended to you.

Regular Reviews

It is in your best interests that you review, on a regular basis, the products which we have arranged for you. As your circumstances change, your needs will change. You must advise us of those changes and request a review of the relevant policy so that we can ensure that you are provided with up to date advice and products best suited to your needs. Failure to contact us in relation to changes in your circumstances or failure to request a review, may result in you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments.

Conflicts of Interest

It is the policy of the Company to avoid any conflict of interest when providing business services to its clients. However, where an unavoidable conflict may arise we will advise you of this in writing before proceeding to provide any business service. A full copy of our conflicts of interest policy is available on request.

Premium Handling

Premiums are due on / or before renewal / inception date. Under the Central Bank legislation very strict rules apply in the payment of premiums to Insurance companies. We will not be able to pay premiums to insurers which have not been received from clients. Therefore, to avoid policy cancellation, premiums must be paid strictly within the credit terms, if agreed, otherwise immediately prior to cover inception.

Cancellation

You the customer can cancel your policy by notice in writing at any time. Provided that all reasonable charges pertaining to costs incurred by Kindlon Insurances Ltd have been paid and provided that no incident giving rise to a claim has occurred in the current period of insurance, you will be entitled to a proportionate return of the premium for the un-expired period of insurance unless the policy is on a minimum and deposit basis, and if this is the case, no return will be allowed on the policy and this will be noted on your policy schedule. If you cancel during the first year short term rates apply, please see policy terms and conditions. In the case of cancellation of motor insurance, you must return the Certificate of Insurance and Windscreen Disc to Kindlon Insurances Ltd. Insurance companies normally reserve the right to cancel policies at any time by giving appropriate notice to your last known address. Please refer to your policy terms and conditions.

Default on Payments by clients

We will exercise our legal rights to receive payments due to us from clients (fees and insurance premiums) for services provided. In particular, without limitation to the generality of the foregoing, the firm will seek reimbursement for all payments made to insurers on behalf of clients where the firm has acted in good faith in renewing a policy of insurance for the client.

Product producers may withdraw benefits or cover in the event of default on payments due under policies of insurance or other products arranged for you. We would refer you to policy documents or product terms for the details of such provisions.

Claims

All claims or circumstances likely to give rise to a claim should be reported to us immediately. Failure to do so may entitle insurers to refuse indemnity under the policy. If you are in any doubt as to whether or not a matter should be reported please tell us and we will be happy to advise.

Complaints Procedure

Whilst we are happy to receive verbal complaints, it would be preferable that any complaints are made, in writing. We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 5 business days and we will fully investigate it. We shall investigate the complaint as swiftly as possible, and, the complainant will receive an update on the complaint at intervals of not greater than 20 business days starting from the date on which the complaint is made. On completion of our investigation, we will provide you with a written report of the outcome. In the event that you are still dissatisfied with our handling of or response to your complaint, you are entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO). A full copy of our complaints procedure is available on request.

Investor compensation

Kindlon Insurances Ltd is a member of the Investor Compensation Scheme operated by the Investor Compensation Company Ltd (ICCL). The Investor Compensation Act, 1998 provides for the establishment of a compensation scheme and the payment, in certain circumstances, of compensation to certain clients (known as eligible investors) of authorised investment firms, as defined in that Act.

The Investor Compensation Company Ltd. (ICCL) was established under the 1998 Act to operate such a compensation scheme and our firm is a member of this scheme.

Compensation may be payable where money or investment instruments owed or belonging to clients and held, administered or managed by the firm cannot be returned to those clients for the time being and where there is no reasonably foreseeable opportunity of the firm being able to do so.

A right to compensation will arise only:

If the client is an eligible investor as defined in the Act; and

If it transpires that the firm is not in a position to return client money or investment instruments owned or belonging to the clients of the firm; and

To the extent that the client’s loss is recognised for the purposes of the Act.

Where an entitlement to compensation is established, the compensation payable will be the lesser of:

90% of the amount of the client’s loss which is recognised for the purposes of the Investor Compensation Act, 1998; or

Compensation of up to €20,000.

For further information, contact the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. at (01) 224 4955.

Brokers Ireland Compensation Fund

We are also members of the Brokers Ireland Compensation Fund. Subject to the rules of the scheme the liabilities of its members firms up to a maximum of €100,000 per client (or €250,000 in aggregate) may be discharged by the fund on its behalf if the member firm is unable to do so, where the above detailed Investor Compensation Scheme has failed to adequately compensate any client of the member. Further details are available on request.

Data Protection

Kindlon Insurances Ltd are subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.

Kindlon Insurances is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We wish to be transparent on how we process your data and show you that we are accountable with the GDPR in relation to not only processing your data but ensuring you understand your rights as a client. The data will be processed only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given and as outlined in our Data Privacy Notice, this will be given to all our clients at the time of data collection.

We will ensure that this Privacy Notice is easily accessible. Please refer to our website www.kindlon.ie If this medium is not suitable we will ensure you can easily receive a copy by; hard copy, or e-mail.